Clints & Lam Auctions

Our History

 

Our company was started over forty years ago by Clint and Nola Johnson of Troy, Idaho. After working as a cashier and clerk for auctioneer  Bud Nearing of Moscow, Clint  attended the Western College of  Auctioneering in Billings in 1970. After graduating, he sold several years with Bud before opening Clints Auction Service with Nola. Clint quickly became an efficient caller and Nola’s knowledge of antiques and collectibles proved to be invaluable to the company. Their sons and daughter Renee took on roles within the company and it soon became a family business. 

 

After graduating from college, Renee moved to a small town in Oregon to teach school. It was there that she met her husband Gary Lam, also an educator. It wasn't long after they were married, before Gary headed off to beome an auctioneer. Upon graduating from the Western College of Auctioneering in 1982, Gary & Renee opened Lam Auctions in Halfway, Oregon. Gary and Renee moved back to Idaho in 1985, Gary joined Clint on the stand, and Clints and Lam Auctions was born. 

 

Gary and Renee have two daughters.  Darby, a U of I graduate in Early Childhood Development, attended her first auction when she was only one week old.  Shandy, a U of I graduate in Communications, came along five years later and was passed around the auction crowd at only one day old. It was inevitable that the two would become a part of the family business!  Their first auction job was running a candy stand.

 

Darby, now 30, and her husband Kason Baldwin keep busy with a wild 5 year old, miss Kambri Cole and newest addition, Brylie Shay. Darby works at the Pullman Police Department as the assistant to the chief of police. She coninues to join the family on the weekends. After watching Grandma Nola closely throughout the years. Darby has learned to recognize antiques and collectibles, patterns, makers, and more.  She plays a vital role in setting up sales and keeping the auctions flowing smoothly on sale day- from registration to working the floor, cashiering to auctioneering- you've likely seen her dabble in everything within the span of a sale.

 

Kambri Cole, 6 years old, has taken on the role of Queen at the sales. She has the crowd wrapped arond her tiny finger and eats more maple bars than she should! She loves to hold up merchendise, and boss her grandpa around. She is in kindergarten this year, and it won't be long now until she is running the place.

Brylie Shay, now 2, adds a lot of sass and fun to auction days. Kambri thinks that Brylie makes the sun rise and set, and takes care of her day in and day out. We're somewhat afraid of the dynamic duo to come, but for now we are enjoying the big grins and slobbery kisses!

 

Shandy, 26, works full time as a recruiter within the HR Department at Schweitzer Engineering Laboratories. For years, she watched her grandpa and dad auctioneer, and followed in their footsteps to Billings in 2008. After graduating from the WCA, she began rotating in with her Grandpa and Dad as an auctioneer at each sale. She has also found a love for fundraising auctions along the way, and spends many a "day off" working with local organizations to raise money for a good cause.

 

When Clint and Nola decided that it was time to “retire”, a concept that they never really fully understood, they turned the company over to the capable hands of Gary & Renee. Not much has changed since the company started way back when.  We lost Clint in 2009, but one thing will always remain the same; our customers can count on an honest sale. 

Clint and Nola built the company with the belief that their customers deserved to be treated with respect. "Every seller's merchandise should be treated the way you would want your grandma's sold."  Clint's honesty and integrity are what have kept our company intact for so many years and for as long as those who loved him are in charge, it will never change.